Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and retired Navy captain, has taken legal action against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for censuring him over a video encouraging military personnel to refuse unlawful orders. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Kelly's suit alleges that Hegseth's actions violate his First Amendment rights and the very principles of the Constitution he swore to defend.
In the contested video, which also featured other Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds, Kelly stated, "You can refuse illegal orders." Hegseth's response to this was a decision to review Kelly's retirement rank and pay, subsequently proposing a reduction in both. Kelly has decried the move as an attack on his twenty-five year military career, and on his duty as a US Senator "to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable," as per his statement yesterday, Jan. 12 shared by FOX 10 Phoenix.
The lawsuit filed by Kelly directly names Hegseth, the Department of Defense, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, and the Department of the Navy. Kelly emphasizes that the measures taken against him undermine his constitutional rights, free speech, and due process. Hegseth had categorized Kelly's conduct as "seditious in nature" in the aftermath of the video's November release and followed through with his censure early January, an action that would lead to a decrease in Kelly's retirement benefits secured from over two decades of service.
Despite the censure and potential repercussions, Kelly remains firm on his stand, indicating that he has no regrets over the message delivered in the video. "Let me make this perfectly clear, though, that Gabby and I are not people that back down," he told ABC News alongside his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords.
